It will be about the recent psychological drama of the Romanian director Christian Mundiu "Beyond the Hills" (Rum. "Dupa dealuri", 2012).
The film tells the story of the tragic fate of the girl Alina, who returns to Romania from Germany to take her best friend Voichita with her, the only person close to her who ever reciprocated her. But Voichita turned to God and went to a monastery. Alina cannot put up with this in any way and is ready to do anything to return Voichita.
And here God becomes a kind of rival for the girl. In her obsession with "pulling" Voichita out of the monastery, Alina begins to fall into certain trance states, which the young priest and other nuns regard as demonic possession. Despite doubts and a lack of support from the church, they nevertheless decide to lecture the poor girl, which leads to a tragic denouement for all participants in the drama.
The film is based on a true story that happened in the summer of 2005 at the Holy Trinity Monastery in the village of Tanacu (Vaslui region in northeastern Romania). A young girl, an orphan from birth, Marichika Irina Kornich and her brother Vasily returned to Romania from Germany, where they were working. According to local media reports, she arrived at this remote monastery three months before her death.
Father Daniel, abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery. Left - real father Daniel in the courthouse. Right: actor Valeriu Andriuta, who played the priest Daniel in the film Beyond the Hills.
Initially, Marichika only wanted to visit her friend, but then she decided to stay and devote herself to monastic life. What happened next is known only from the reports of local publications and the results of the criminal investigation.
According to the official version, Marichika Kornichi suffered from schizophrenia, which made the young abbot of the monastery, Father Daniel and other nuns, assume that she was possessed by the devil. The fact is that on June 10, 2005, Marichika started having seizures, she began to scream and use foul language. On June 13, together with four nuns, Father Daniel began the rite of exorcism from the poor girl.
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And on the 15th Marichika died of asphyxiation, that is, suffocation. Father Daniel himself called an ambulance and handed over to the doctors Marichik, who, according to him, was still alive. However, the regional doctor claims that he ascertained the girl's death while still in the monastery, and took her to intensive care in the hope of getting her out of clinical death.
The Romanian Orthodox Church condemned the actions of the monk and removed him from the post of rector. However, Fr. Daniel refused to stop serving, and worked in the monastery for another month, until his arrest. In February 2007, the Vaslui city court sentenced Father Daniel to 14 years in prison for a ritual of exorcism, which ended in a “purified” death. Four nuns were also convicted of “complicity in murder” and received from five to eight years in prison.
Despite the results of the criminal investigation, there are still many inconsistencies and blank spots in this case. First of all, what really happened to Marichika Irina Kornichi, who, in fact, became the Romanian counterpart of the famous "possessed" Anneliz Michel (based on whose story the film "Six Demons Emily Rose" was also filmed)? So in reality there is no reliable information about the medical examination of Marichika for schizophrenia.
This "diagnosis" on the principle of a "tainted phone" was "made" by the local media. In addition, the newspapers wrote that "the poor girls were crucified", "they were hungry and did not give water", "they gagged her mouth" and "they kept him in the cold room of the monastery for 3 days." Although the priest claimed that it was all a lie. He assured that he did everything according to the instructions in the sacred books. Father Daniel also noted that in fact no one crucified the girl, as it would be blasphemy. True, the abbot admitted that the girl had to be isolated in order to protect the nuns.
Monastery of the Holy Trinity. A still from the film "Beyond the Hills" by Christian Munjui.
Few know that the concept of "obsession" is not really rejected by the modern medical community. So at present, in world practice, two systems of classification of mental disorders are used - ICD-10 and DSM-IV. Both take obsession for mental disorder, pathology. According to these classifications, in the group of nervous disorders associated with stress and having a somatic form, a separate category of "possession trance" is distinguished. At the same time, it is noted that disturbances in such a trance do not appear simultaneously with schizophrenia or related disorders. In other words, having an "obsession" rules out schizophrenia, and vice versa.
It can be assumed that Marichika did not really suffer from schizophrenia, but as a result of some shocks or emotional experiences, fell into a trance of obsession. So, according to the version of events of her brother Vasily, Marichika brought a large amount of money (4000 euros) from Germany, lent it to one family, but could not get it back and in this connection she became very worried, "fell into a rage", which led to death …
In addition, the newspapers kept silent about the fact that in addition to the criminal one, there was also a "spiritual investigation" of this case by the Orthodox Church. Here is how Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev comments on his results “If we proceed from the practice of exorcism … then formally Father Daniel did everything right. But he can definitely be blamed for self-righteousness. A young priest, seeing that his initial efforts are not working, should have immediately turned to a more experienced confessor. What happened in church language is called falling into delusion, when a person exaggerates his spiritual capabilities and status."
Unlike the film adaptation of Anneliz Michel in a somewhat similar story, in the Romanian film Beyond the Hills, the director does not focus on the anomalous component, nor does he give clear answers. The viewer here will not find flying crosses, levitation of the possessed, and other special effects typical of Hollywood exorcism films. But the presented realism of what is happening, the unclear line between the natural and the otherworldly, as well as the rather truthful acting of the actors nevertheless creates the atmosphere of what really could have taken place.
It is also important to note that in 2012 the film “Beyond the Hills” received quite serious film awards at the Cannes and Moscow Film Festivals: for Best Screenplay and Best Actress.